This content was published: November 2, 2006. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC Foundation receives largest-ever individual gift
Photos and story by James Hill
For more PCC news, visit: www.pcc.edu/news
PORTLAND, Ore. – The PCC Foundation has received its largest ever gift from an individual.
Sharon Helzer, widow of late Portland Community College art instructor Dick Helzer, gave the Foundation $105,000. Her funds will create two endowed scholarship funds – one to benefit art students and the other to help nursing students. Helzer, a resident of northwest Portland and a retired nurse, also made provisions in her estate plan to benefit the PCC Foundation.
The money will establish one-year scholarships that will pay for tuition, books and art supplies. In Dick Helzer’s memory, many faculty, staff and friends of the family have donated funds to the scholarships as well.
“Thank you so much to Sharon and her family for the legacy she has created in memory of Dick and for providing future scholarships for PCC students,” said PCC District President Preston Pulliams.
Dick Helzer, a prolific artist, spent 37 years as a teacher of sculpture and drawing at PCC. The art gallery at the Rock Creek Campus (17705 N.W. Springville Road) was renamed in his honor last month during a memorial gathering. Helzer’s sculpture and artwork was modeled after such modern masters as Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol and Henry Moore.
For more information on how to donate, call 503-977-4382.
Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon, serving approximately 88,200 full- and part-time students. For more PCC news, please visit us on the Web at www.pcc.edu/news. PCC has three comprehensive campuses, five workforce training and education centers, and 200 community locations in the Portland metropolitan area. The PCC district encompasses a 1,500-square-mile area in northwest Oregon and offers two-year degrees, one-year certificate programs, short-term training, alternative education, pre-college courses and life-long learning.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »